NEW DELHI: Debt-laden carrier Kingfisher Airlines' owner Vijay Mallya, after a marathon meeting with 40 protesting pilots, said he has assured to settle their salary dues soon but did not give a timeframe to do so.

"Salary payment is my topmost priority but by when it will be done is a matter between the company and the employees," Mallya told the media after a three-hour meeting with the pilots. Kingfisher Airlines has not been able to stick to its truncated daily flight schedule of 175 flights as many pilots have refused to fly aircrafts due to non-payment of salaries for the past few months.

The aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Chief EK Bharat Bhushan had at the Hyderabad air show censured Kingfisher's non-ability to stick to the flight schedule saying this cannot go on for long as it is causing a lot of inconvenience to the passengers.

Around 60% of Kingfisher's 500 pilots have not been reporting to duty, causing almost half the scheduled flights to be cancelled across the country. They threatened to stay away until Mallya personally clarified on salary payments.

Mallya also said the airline will be submitting a recovery plan to the government within two to three days which will include a new flight schedule and financial restructuring plans.

"We'll give a full plan within three days and are working relentlessly on getting equity infusion. We are in talks with one airline and two non-airline investors," Mallya said.

He will also meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Chief Tony Tyler on Friday to discuss the issue of suspension from IATA's Billing and Settlement Plans ( BSP) and the Cargo Accounts Settlement System (CASS) due to failure to provide the required cash deposit.

In January, after abruptly cancelling hundreds of flights due to financial crunch, which includes Rs 6,400 crore of accumulated losses and a debt pile of Rs 7,000 crore, the airline had submitted a recovery plan to the DGCA, which the airline has not been able to follow.

Meanwhile, Mallya also said he has written to the finance ministry requesting them to defreeze his service tax accounts, which were frozen this month for non-payment of taxes.